More than two months will pass before the Giants see the Nationals again in Washington. The baseball landscape will change often before then, some teams rising and others falling. Injuries, fate and performance will make the standings look different than they do now.

There is no way in mid-June to divine whether that three-game series at Nationals Park will pit the two best teams in the National League. Then again, who would bet against it?

In a four-game series that ended Thursday with the Giants finally winning, 7-1 behind a dominant Tim Hudson, the Nationals staked their claim as the NL's top dog by taking three of four from a San Francisco team that spent the past two months cobbling the majors' best record.

Moreover, the Nationals did it without one of the league's best hitters, Bryce Harper, who is expected to return from a thumb injury next month.

And yet, as bad as the series was for the Giants, they maintained the majors' best record at 43-24 and had just one game chipped off their 9 1/2-game NL West lead.

The Giants' world would not have spun off its axis had they incurred their first-ever four-game sweep at AT&T Park and dropped two games to the second-place Dodgers, but averting that brought great relief inside the clubhouse.

"It's not fun to be in a situation where you're fighting not to get swept at home," manager Bruce Bochy said. "There's a lot of pride involved."

The Giants also had to be satisfied that they sent Matt Williams' club to the airport with a snapshot of how they built their gaudy record.

"It was nice to win one game from them, obviously," Hudson said. "At least we could show them that the team they beat the first three games, we're better than the club that they saw."

Hudson was the best man for the job Thursday because he has been the Giants' most consistent pitcher. He is 7-2 with a majors-best 1.81 ERA. They are 10-2 when he pitches, 7-1 after a loss.

Hudson's 1-2-3 first inning was a godsend for the Giants, who did not have a lead in the series. That changed when former National Michael Morse singled against rookie Blake Treinen to start the second, Tyler Colvin tripled him home and Brandon Crawford hit a scoring grounder for a 2-0 lead.

Sandoval added a sacrifice fly and Hector Sanchez a pinch two-run single to back Hudson, who allowed one unearned run in seven innings.

Morse and bromance buddy Hunter Pence each had three singles. Morse needed them more.

He seemed downright depressed after he struck out with two on in the eighth inning Tuesday night in a game the Giants lost 2-1. That morning, a Washington writer took a gratuitous shot at Morse's intellect in a column headlined, "Nats much better off with Michael Morse gone."

By Thursday morning, Pence said, Morse's demeanor had changed, and Morse declared he was not going to let the column bum him out.

"Before the game he was extremely positive," Pence said. "He came up to me and said, 'I've been positive all day. I was positive last night. Let's have some fun.' Our message is to always black out results (from previous games). He showed that by the way he came to the field today."